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mesquite trees of uuusaally large growth stand so close together that a 

 wagon can with great difficulty be taken through. In this pasture 

 the curly mesquite grows in the early summer quite tall enough to be 

 cut with a mowing machine. Under very favorable conditions it could 

 perhaps be developed into a good hay grass, but it is primarily and pre- 

 eminently a pasture grass. A Callahan County stockman, finding that 

 there were many naked spots in his j)asture, took the roots of the curly 

 mesquite and with an ordinary garden hoe put them in the ground, 

 scattering them over such spots from 3 to 4 feet apart. This was in 

 the early spring. By the following autumn they had rooted and sent 

 out their creeping stems to take root, and had covered the bare places. 

 This was a case of making two blades of grass grow where none grew 

 before, and suggests a jjractical way for the renewal of all the much- 

 abused pastures in and out of central Texas. On i^lowed land this 

 grass will spread very rapidly, soon forming a fine turf. It will pay 

 farmers and stockmen to make the experiment of growing it on plowed 

 land. 



Wild Timothy [Mulilenhergia racemosa). — Of all the native hay 

 grasses of central Texas, this is one of the most valuable. It does not 

 occur except in moist soils, but there it grows luxuriantly. A speci- 

 men collected near Abilene measured 4 feet 7 inches in height, and it is 

 often seen over 5 feet tall. It is slender and erect, its stems soft even 

 when cured, with an abundance of leafage that does not fall from the 

 stems, many seeds that do not drop readily, and short but numerous 

 creeping root-stalks. A farmer on whose place a lot of this was grow- 

 ing informed me that the only grass of the many varieties growing- 

 together on the place preferred by his cattle over this wild timothy was 

 the wild oats ( Uniola latifoUa). An acre of good moist land seeded 

 down to wild timothy ought to produce in a fair season 2 to 2J tons of 

 hay equal to the best grown in any country. 



White Top ( Triodia albescens) is another excellent hay grass. It 

 has a very soft stem with an abundance of leaves, and in September 

 was splendidly seeded. It is found principally in the lowlands, where 

 it grows from 18 to 20 inches tall; and also on the uplands, even in 

 sandy and rocky places. In Taylor County, near Lytle Lake, it grows 

 luxuriantly, but only there in places where it has the benefit of subirri- 

 gation. It will doubtless prove a valuable grass for hay purposes when 

 in cultivation, as stock are very fond of it. 



Galleta or Black G-rama {HUaria mutica). — Up to a few years since 

 this grass was not growing in any considerable quantities in the south- 

 ern or eastern counties, although in the northern and western counties 

 it constituted a large portion of the pasturage. iS'ow, however, it has 

 established itself in all the sections, and stockmen report more of it this 

 year in Taylor, CallahaUj Eastland, and Eunnels counties than was 

 ever seen before. It is an important grass on the Staked Plains. In 

 Mitchell County it grows as well on the highest as on the lowest pas- 



